Hill, Grannell lead Niles blitz

December 07, 2008|JOHN VANDEN HEEDE Tribune Correspondent

NILES -- Kaleigh Hill and Jenna Grannell came off the bench and combined for 24 points Friday night, helping the Niles girls basketball team blitz Battle Creek Central 79-36. All the Vikings scored in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference home opener under new coach Pat Touhey. Niles (2-0) never trailed while taking charge of the game with a 28-point second quarter which included 10 points by Hill and five by Grannell. Hill finished with a team-high 13 points and also led the Vikings in steals with four. "Kaleigh Hill played the game of her career," said Touhey. "She got a lot of baskets in the paint. She was moving so well in the paint. She really made them work hard defensively. "She has been a player for a long time. I knew this was going to be a breakout season for her." Grannell had 11 points and nine rebounds. Autumn Lucero also had 11 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. "We have depth on our team," Touhey said. "What we try to do is make sure all our kids get in so we have fresh legs." Niles made four of its six 3-pointers over the first two quarters while opening a 44-23 halftime advantage. "We really do have a really good outside shooting team," Touhey said. "It took us a little while to get there. But once we started stroking from the outside, it really opened it up inside." NILES 79, BATTLE CREEK CENTRAL 36At Niles Niles (79): Lindsay Craig 2 1-4 6, Baysia Cox 3 1-2 7, Kaitlyn Touhey 1 3-4 5, Nicole Sly 3 0-3 7, Autumn Lucero 2 6-8 11, Alyssa Pingel 1 0-0 3, Jenna Grannell 3 5-8 11, Kaleigh Hill 3 5-6 13, Maureen Craig 2 0-0 6, Bryanna Cramer 2 2-2 6, Maggie Ernsberger 2 0-0 4. Totals 25 23-37 79. Battle Creek Central (36): Brianna Trevino 3 3-6 11, Jalen Gunter 2 0-0 4, Reba Coleman 2 8-20 13, Shaquia Love 0 0-0 0, Amber Smith 1 0-2 2, Markela Porter 0 1-6 1, Danasia Smith-Nunnaly 1 0-0 2, Kyra Jones 1 1-1 3. Totals 10 13-35 36. Niles 16 44 56 79 BC Central 9 23 30 36